The astonishing story of how an Army medic who stood on a grenade to save his comrades recovered from his injuries and went on to play professional football has emerged after his medal was sold.

Lance Corporal James Collins was advised to have his lower right leg amputated after taking the blast from the grenade dropped by a shell-shocked soldier in the First World War trenches.

But he refused to allow surgeons to remove the limb and instead underwent 14 operations over the next two years.

After recovering – and with his foot still riddled with shrapnel – he signed for Swansea Town and went on to play for the Welsh club for 15 years, rising to captain.

L/Cpl Collins, a defender, led the team to an FA Cup semi-final and the old Third Division Championship in the 1920s.

He was awarded the Albert Medal for his heroics while serving in France with the Royal Army Medical Corps on November 11, 1917.

The medal, which was replaced by the George Medal and is the civilian version of the Victoria Cross, was sold by London auctioneers Spink for £21,600.

After finishing his playing career, L/Cpl Collins became a football coach and then volunteered for service with the Royal Engineers in the Second World War. He died in his native Dundee in 1963 aged 67.